The war being waged on the TARP watchdog's independence
by Glenn Greenwald
"Barofksy's clashes with administration officials have intensified of late. Last week, he issued a report documenting that the actual amount of taxpayer money theoretically put at risk in the bank bailout -- once Federal Reserve, FDIC and other programs are counted -- is $23.7 trillion, not the widely cited figure of $700 billion, a report that prompted attacks from the White House and Treasury on his credibility."

Obama Drinks Friedman's Kool-Aid
by Thom Hartmann
"Our economy has gone into the toilet over the past 30 years, and President Obama and his advisors think "free trade" is the solution. Like Bill Clinton and both George Bush's, he's so enamored of it he's even recommending it to poor African nations."

Obama’s shameful decision on torture
by CHRISTOPHER H. PYLE
"PRESIDENT OBAMA recently endorsed the Bush administration’s larger mission — to turn the American presidency into an elected monarchy. By refusing to enforce the laws against torture, he not only violated his oath of office; he joined George W. Bush in declaring that CIA operatives can commit crimes with impunity, provided that a government lawyer gives them a permission slip."

The darker side of China's 'miracle'
by David Sirota
"One excursion does not make me a China guru, but I can report with some confidence that when it comes to economic growth, Wong is right. China is walking in our shoes - and that's not necessarily a good thing."

First steps taken to implement preventive detention, military commissions
by Glenn Greenwald
"From this interim report, it's more apparent than ever that the central excuse made by Obama defenders to justify preventive detention and military commissions -- there are dangerous Terrorists who cannot be released but also cannot be tried because Bush obtained the evidence against them via torture -- is an absolute myth."

To Save the Republic, Tax the Rich?
by Robert Parry
"Yet, while the middle- and working-classes have seen the American dream recede, the upper stratum of the super rich have watched the benefits of the high-tech global economy flow disproportionately into their stock portfolios and trust funds, creating wealth disparities not seen in the United States since the age of the robber barons."

Two Freedoms
One for me and one for theeby Bryan Zepp Jamieson"Discontent – real discontent, and not just snivels because the president got a blow job – seems to be necessary to the functioning of a society. Without some discontent, societies decline into a pose of the satisfied lion at the zoo."

New reports of massive spying, criminality by US government
by Patrick Martin
"Reports in the American press on Friday and Saturday reveal massive illegality in the US government and intelligence apparatus. They demonstrate not only routine violations of democratic rights through illegal spying and wiretapping both at home and abroad, but also disregard for legally required reports to Congress."

Now Can We Investigate?
by William Rivers Pitt
"Half a dozen times since his inauguration, President Obama has seen his agenda depth-charged by a report on some nefarious activity by the previous administration. Not only have his plans and intentions been derailed by these reports - whether they be about torture, government secrecy, indefinite detention, or whatever else - he has himself become culpable for the damage done by either trying to ignore these transgressions or by adopting them himself."

Chuck Todd's arguments against investigations
by Glenn Greenwald
"Yet here is Chuck Todd -- who covers the White House for NBC News -- explicitly arguing against investigations, and adopting the Bush/right-wing mentality to do so."

The Man in the Mirror
by Chris Hedges
"In celebrity culture we destroy what we worship. The commercial exploitation of Michael Jackson's death was orchestrated by the corporate forces that rendered Jackson insane."

Last Year's Excuses Are Gone. Come On Already
by Ralph Nader
"Face it, America. You are a corporate-controlled country with the symbols of democracy in the constitution and statutes just that-symbols of what the founding fathers believed or hoped would be reality."

The Man Who Knew Cheney's Secret
by Benjamin Sarlin
"Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh raised eyebrows back in March when he told an audience at the University of Minnesota that Dick Cheney ran a secret hit squad that he kept hidden from congressional oversight."

An Obama Doctrine Emerges in Moscow
by Joe Cirincione
"But just as significant as the nuclear accords and the reset of US-Russian relations may be the worldview that Obama elaborated in his Moscow speeches. He deftly buried the deeply flawed strategic doctrine that launched an unnecessary war with Iraq and posited military force as the chief tool of US statecraft."

Obama wants keep Bush policy on CIA briefings
by Carolyn Lochhead
"The Obama administration just lodged a strong objection to efforts by Democrats on Capitol Hill to remedy the problem of the CIA briefing too few members of Congress on top-secret subjects. Turns out Obama wants to keep Bush's policies."

Obama’s Single Payer Beat Down
by Glen Ford
"While his supporters and apologists, including some leading media figures, pretend that Obama is actually in favor of single payer insurance, his stance has been clear from the start, and is diametrically opposed to it."

So This Is What Victory Looks Like?
by Scott Ritter
"Baghdad survives now as a city defined not by its thousands of years of history, but rather segregation brought on by policies of deliberate ethnic cleansing."

Our political class in a nutshell
by Glenn Greenwald
"War Crimes are heinous and intolerable acts that all decent people reject; "anyone suspected of war crimes should be thoroughly investigated"; and War Criminals must not be allowed in any positions of authority . . . . except when the War Crimes in question are committed by Americans, in which case all investigations and accountability must be blocked and those who defended and even approved them are perfectly welcomed in our highest positions of authority (including, ironically, overseeing our war in Afghanistan)."

When Will The Recovery Begin? Never.
by Robert Reich
"The so-called "green shoots" of recovery are turning brown in the scorching summer sun. In fact, the whole debate about when and how a recovery will begin is wrongly framed."

Republicans, a Threat to the Republic?
by Robert Parry
"Sarah Palin’s abrupt decision to resign as Alaska’s governor – and her rambling explanation – underscore again how the Republican Party over the past dozen years has put up candidates for top national offices who are unqualified or ill-suited for those sensitive positions."

Pure Overreach
NYT editorial
"With a little-noticed order last week, we fear the Supreme Court has set the stage for dismantling the longstanding ban on corporate spending in elections for president and Congress. If those restrictions are overturned, it would be a disaster for democracy."

The Crooks Get Cash While the Poor Get Screwed
by Chris Hedges
"But innocence and guilt are funny things in America. If you are rich and guilty, if you have defrauded banks and customers and investment firms of billions of dollars, as AIG or Citibank has, if you wear fancy suits and have degrees from elite universities that cost more per year than Brown used to make, you get taxpayer money. You get lots of it."

The Latest Palin Ethics Complaint
by David Corn
"Henning's most recent complaint is about an old matter: Palin collecting per diem payments from the state for living in her Wasilla home, rather than in the governor's residence in Juneau."

Fascism Coming to a Court Near You
by Thom Hartmann
"This new case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, presents the best opportunity for the Roberts Court to use its five vote majority to totally re-write the face of politics in America, rolling us back to the pre-1907 era of the Robber Barons."

The Obama justice system
by Glenn Greenwald
"Spencer Ackerman yesterday attended a Senate hearing at which the DOD's General Counsel, Jeh Johnson, testified. As Ackerman highlighted, Johnson actually said that even for those detainees to whom the Obama administration deigns to give a real trial in a real court, the President has the power to continue to imprison them indefinitely even if they are acquitted at their trial."

Is Texas Harboring Torture Decider?
by Ray McGovern
"It is essential that those responsible for torture be held to account. This is not about 'policy differences.' It is about crimes. More important still, it’s about holding fast to our Constitution and enforcing accountability in the executive branch."

Adding up the true costs of two wars
by Joseph Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes
"The conflict that began in 2003 is far from over for us, and the next chapter -- confronting a Taliban that reasserted itself in Afghanistan while the U.S. was sidetracked in Iraq -- will be expensive and bloody."

Troop Movements Are not a 'Withdrawal'
by Dennis Kucinich
"The withdrawal of some U.S. combat troops from Iraq’s cities is welcome and long overdue news. However, it is important to remember that this is not the same as a withdrawal of U.S. troops and contractors from Iraq."

Watchdog Group Obtains More Documents In 'Missing' Bush-Era E-Mails Case
by Jason Leopold
"These documents conclusively demonstrate that at the same time the Bush administration was publicly proclaiming there was no missing email problem, administration officials had in hand an internal analysis detailing just such a problem. More simply, the documents prove the administration lied."

FBI Ignored Bush-Hussein Ties
by Robert Parry
"Important chapters of history died with Hussein on the gallows. Hussein was a unique witness with the broadest knowledge about who arranged and sold the precursor components for his unconventional weapons that were used to kill Iranian troops and Iraqi civilians."

Time for President Obama to Throw Down Against the Corrupt and Spineless
by Bob Cesca
"If President Obama is truly serious about changing the way Washington operates, he'd begin to aggressively hector the entourage of lawmakers that I've not-so-affectionately nicknamed the "Coalition of the Corrupt and Spineless" (COCS) -- the Democratic Senators who have very obviously been bought off by the healthcare lobby, along with other almost-as-awful Democrats whose cowardice is only matched by their weakness of will."

What if the Uighurs were Christian rather than Muslim?
by Glenn Greenwald
"Just imagine if the Uighurs were a Christian -- rather than Muslim -- minority, battling against the tyrannical Communist regime in Beijing, resisting various types of persecution, and demanding religious freedom."

Obama, They Want You to Fail
by Robert Parry
"The pattern of belligerent Republicans and timid Democrats is now repeating itself on health-care reform. Democrats first excluded from the debate the one measure that probably could save significant money – a single-payer system – and they now appear poised to trade away Obama’s proposal for a “public option” to possibly garner a couple of Republican votes."

Has There Really Been a Policy Change in Iraq?
by Jon Soltz
"What's true is that the Iraqis seem less interested in political progress that would lead to a relatively peaceful Iraq, and more interested in US Forces staying indefinitely to protect them from killing each other."

Denials of US interference in Iran not credible
by Peter Symonds
"Just as the press never examines the claims of Mousavi and his supporters that the election was rigged, so it ignores the considerable evidence of extensive US operations against Iran, spanning a range of diplomatic, intelligence and military activities."

Independence Days
by Ned Lamont
"It has now been over six years since President Bush stood in front of the "Mission Accomplished" banner, over $1 trillion since we were told the war would pay for itself, over 4,300 American lives lost since it was proclaimed we would be "greeted as liberators." That's the war from the American perspective."

Time to End False Bipartisanship
by KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL
"God I hope David Broder is wrong. 'The President has told visitors,' the Washington Post columnist wrote last week, 'that he would rather have 70 votes in the Senate for a bill that gives him 85 percent of what he wants rather than a 100 percent satisfactory bill that passes 52-48.'"

Obama's New Euphemism
by JOANNE MARINER
"To disguise its plans for relying on a practice that is more characteristic of repressive governments than of constitutional democracies, the Obama administration has even invented its own euphemism. In his May speech, President Obama spoke only of 'prolonged' detention, not of indefinite detention, or preventive detention, or detention without charge."

Oil and the Iraq “withdrawal”
by James Cogan
"It is fitting that today’s deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq’s cities coincides with a meeting in Baghdad to auction off some of the country’s largest oil fields to companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and British Petroleum."

The still-growing NPR "torture" controversy
by Glenn Greenwald
"There are several noteworthy developments since I wrote on Tuesday about the refusal of NPR's Ombdusman, Alica Shepard, to be interviewed by me about NPR's ban on using the word 'torture' to describe the Bush administration's interrogation tactics."

The Emperor's Seven Signing Statements
by David Swanson
"Lawless detention is the least of it. State secrets and warrantless spying scrape the surface. Drone attacks and ongoing torture begin to touch it. But central to the power of an emperor, and the catastrophes that come from the existence of an emperor, is the elimination of any other force within the government. Signing statements eliminate congress."

It Came from Wasilla
by TODD S. PURDUM
"John McCain’s top campaign officials talk more candidly than ever before about the meltdown of his vice-presidential pick, the author tracks the signs—political and personal—that Palin was big trouble, and checks the forecast for her future."

To Critics, New Policy on Terror Looks Old
by CHARLIE SAVAGE
"But Mr. Obama’s critics say that whether statutory authorization exists for his counterterrorism policies is just a legalistic point. The core problem with Mr. Bush’s approach, they argue, was that it trammeled individual rights. And they say Mr. Obama’s policies have not changed that."

Risk of Major Social Upheaval Likely if Bank Bonanza Continues
by Marshall Auerback
"State and local governments have been forced into draconian budget cuts, firing workers who are among the most reliable in making their mortgage payments -- when they have jobs: firemen, policemen, teachers, civil servants. Yet the Obama administration won't spend even a small fraction of what it has wasted on the banks to cover state shortfalls."

This Is Not The Climate Bill You Need To Fear
by Beau Friedlander
"Few who are 'serious' about saving us from ourselves as regards the wholesale destruction of the planet have a high opinion of this bill. This bill is not worth a damn when it comes to the problems we face."

Why Didn't Governor Sanford Suppress His E-Love-Letters?
by JOHN W. DEAN
"My immediate reaction -- or actually, question -- upon learning of the Sanford email love letters was why hadn't the Governor exercised his copyright ownership rights over this material and blocked its publication?"

Who to Trust on a Truth Commission?
by Robert Parry (A Special Report)
"The key staffing problem is that pretty much all the Wise Men and Wise Women of Washington have seen their reputations thrive in the hot house of intellectual corruption that has dominated the capital for the last 30 years -- and thus they are hopelessly compromised."

Iran Had a Democracy Before We Took It Away
by Chris Hedges
"Iranians do not need or want us to teach them about liberty and representative government. They have long embodied this struggle. It is we who need to be taught."

White House Watched
by Dan Froomkin
"I started my column in January 2004, and one dominant theme quickly emerged: That George W. Bush was truly the proverbial emperor with no clothes."

A Global Recovery for a Global Recession
by Joseph E. Stiglitz
"This is not only the worst global economic downturn of the post-World War II era; it is the first serious global downturn of the modern era of globalization."

Will Obama Follow Bush Or FDR?
by Benjamin Wittes and Jack Goldsmith
"Obama, to put it bluntly, seems poised for a nearly wholesale adoption of the Bush administration's unilateral approach to detention. The attraction is simple, seductive and familiar."

Obama Closes Doors on Openness
by Michael Isikoff
"The refusal, approved by White House counsel Greg Craig's office, is the latest in a series of cases in which Obama officials have opted against public disclosure."

Serving the Medical-Industrial Complex
by Robert Parry
"The usual knock on government programs is that they’re not as efficient as the private sector, which we’re told can provide the same product for less money and with higher quality. Thus, it should be no big deal when the public and private collide because the private sector should prevail."

The Swan Song of the Islamic Republic
by Bernard-Henri Lévy
"Whatever happens, if the protest gains momentum or loses steam, if it ends up prevailing or if the regime succeeds in terrorizing it, he who should now only be called president-non-elect Ahmadinejad will only be an ersatz, illegitimate, weakened president."

Death by Bipartisanship
by Nancy L. Cohen
"When the ever elusive bipartisanship becomes a more important goal then, say, the well-being of nearly 50 million uninsured Americans, it's time to examine our priorities."

Why Did The Washington Post Axe Dan Froomkin and Give Paul Wolfowitz a Column?
by Byard Duncan
"Just one day after firing Dan Froomkin -- one of only a few voices willing to offer insightful, well-researched criticism of both the Bush and Obama administrations -- the Washington Post did something even more outrageous: It gave Paul Wolfowitz a platform to criticize the president's Iran policy."

Some Things Obama Must Explain
by Dan Froomkin
"Even as President Obama spends most of his time trying to fix the problems former President George W. Bush created or overlooked, his administration is nevertheless embracing the Bushian way of doing business on a handful of issues, most notably those that involve secrecy."

Nobody Expects the Spanish Prosecution
by Bruce Falconer
"Will former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other senior Bush administration officials end up in jail for crafting the policies that led to the torture of prisoners at Guantánamo?"

How bad is the Peterson-Waxman deal on climate legislation?
by TOM PHILPOTT
"The compromise has two major planks: 1) the EPA will be forbidden for five years from assessing the indirect land-use effects of ethanol, a topic that sends the ethanol-besotted Peterson into literal fits of rage; and 2) the USDA, not the EPA, will administer the market for ag-related offsets under the bill’s cap-and-trade scheme."

Neocon enemies, using diplomacy, reach deal for Shalit's release
by Glenn Greenwald
"In other words, the deal for Shalit's release was secured by some of the neocon's most despised enemies (Jimmy Carter and Syria), with the help of a President they insist hates Israel (Barack Obama), relying on tactics they have long scorned (diplomacy, negotiating with Terrorists, including Hamas)."

With Iran, Think Before You Speak
by John Kerry
"If we actually want to empower the Iranian people, we have to understand how our words can be manipulated and used against us to strengthen the clerical establishment, distract Iranians from a failing economy and rally a fiercely independent populace against outside interference."

In Congress: 32 Heroes, 21 Frauds
by David Swanson
"These 32 Congress members, in many cases, stood up to threats, promises, and abuse from the White House and Nancy Pelosi. President Obama and several cabinet secretaries, the National Security Advisor, and of course the White House Chief of staff lobbied hard, including threatening to cut off all future electoral support."

The 'Bipartisan' Trap In Health Reform
by E.J. Dionne Jr.
"This week, the health-care debate moved from general principles to the agonizing specifics of how much reform will cost, who will pay and which groups get what."

Obama's Bogus New Excuse for Secrecy
by Dan Froomkin
"The Obama Justice Department yesterday put forth an new legal argument, one that even the Bush team might not have had the gall to employ. Call it the Daily Show disclosure exclusion."

Will Congress Put Useless Fighter Jets Above America?
by Jon Soltz
"Congress is about to throw $369 million (on a down-payment of $2 billion) for a dozen F-22 fighter jets that even the Pentagon doesn't want. Oh, and the money for it? It's coming out of funds that were set aside to clean up dangerous nuclear waste in the U.S."

Here is secrecy creep in action
by Glenn Greenwald
"Using the standard that is now so accepted across the political spectrum in Washington -- information that will inflame anti-American sentiment should be suppressed rather than disclosed so at to not endanger our troops -- isn't it better if we just cover-up, rather than learn the truth about, the civilian deaths we caused in Afghanistan?"

Excusing Outrages of the Right
by Robert Parry
"Part of America’s ongoing political crisis is that Official Washington remains cowed by the angry Right, even as it engages in subtle and not-so-subtle appeals to bigotry and invitations to violence. As the outrages mount, most of the national press corps prefers to look the other way, a pattern that now stretches back many years."

The three steps to financial reform
by George Soros
"Having gone too far in deregulating - which contributed to the current crisis - we must resist the temptation to go too far in the opposite direction."

Push Back, Mr. President
by Dan Froomkin
"Now that President Obama has shown that he can be rolled when it comes to his commitment to transparency, the defenders of torture are shamelessly pressuring him to keep their secrets even when court rulings and common sense say otherwise."

Shame: The 'Anti-War' Democrats Who Sold Out
by Jeremy Scahill
"In a vote that should go down in recent histories as a day of shame for the Democrats, on Tuesday the House voted to approve another $106 billion dollars for the bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and increasingly Pakistan)."

The Illegal Spying Game, played over and over
by Glenn Greenwald
"Ever since The New York Times revealed in December, 2005 that the Bush administration had spent the last four years illegally spying on Americans' communications without warrants, there have been numerous additional revelations of various types of massive illegal government spying."

A Bad Call on Gay Rights
NYT editorial
"The Obama administration, which came to office promising to protect gay rights but so far has not done much, actually struck a blow for the other side last week."

How Cheney Bent DOJ to His Will
by Dan Froomkin
"Three newly-disclosed Justice Department e-mails thoroughly vindicate the most cynical suspicions about how former vice president Dick Cheney bent ostensibly independent Justice Department lawyers to his will and forced them to manufacture legal cover for his torture policies."

Hold Your Applause
by Chris Hedges
"What do words of peace and cooperation mean from us when we torture--yes, we still torture--only Muslims?"

Who Spent All That Money For What?
Fear Rules
by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
"Americans are at ease with their country’s aggression against Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan, which has resulted in a million dead Muslim civilians and several million refugees, because the US government has filled Americans with fear of terrorists."

EXPOSING THE OBAMA “PLACEBO PRESIDENCY”— A SORRY TALE OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
by Phil Rockstroh
"Rather than addressing the core issue, the deterioration of the rights and liberties granted by the U.S. Constitution, President Obama is wallpapering over the rot wrought by the national security state’s termite hive mind of authoritarian appetites, that has been, silently, and hidden by darkness, gnawing the house of state to sawdust."

Should the U.S. also suppress evidence of civilian deaths in Afghanistan?
by Glenn Greenwald
"Using the standard that is now so accepted across the political spectrum in Washington -- information that will inflame anti-American sentiment should be suppressed rather than disclosed so at to not endanger our troops -- isn't it better if we just cover-up, rather than learn the truth about, the civilian deaths we caused in Afghanistan? "

Major new accountability campaign from the ACLU
by Glenn Greenwald
"The ACLU today launched a major new campaign to impose accountability for torture and related Bush-era crimes. The campaign -- Accountability for Torture -- is devoted principally to a restoration of the rule of law and the appointment by the DOJ of a Special Prosecutor."

Good Questions From a Senator and an Activist
by Dan Froomkin
"Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) took to the Senate floor to talk about torture, the campaign of falsehood that has been pursued by its defenders, and the many things the public still doesn't know."

Two Key Health-Care Numbers
by Robert Parry
"To understand the financial stakes involved in the battle over U.S. health-care reform, it's useful to keep two numbers in mind: 50 million and 119 million."

The American Empire Is Bankrupt
by Chris Hedges
"This week marks the end of the dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency. It marks the start of a terrible period of economic and political decline in the United States. And it signals the last gasp of the American imperium. That’s over. It is not coming back. And what is to come will be very, very painful."

The Real Story Behind the CIA's Torture Policy
by Scott Horton
"The Daily Beast's Scott Horton gets the inside scoop from Jane Mayer on CIA chief Leon Panetta—and how he advocated for a truth commission on torture but was rebuffed by Obama, who saw it as a potentially dangerous political distraction."

Too Embarrassing to Disclose?
by Dan Froomkin
"President Obama's approach to government transparency is disturbingly opaque in places, particularly when it comes to disclosing information about the Bush administration's torture legacy."

How civilized, law-abiding countries imprison terrorists
by Glenn Greenwald
"While the U.S. continues to debate whether it must imprison accused terrorists without charges or trial -- and now even refuses to say whether it will release those who are given trials but then acquitted -- numerous other countries are, with their actions, adhering to the values and principles which we, with words, righteously claim to embody."

Obama's Era of Openness Is Closed
by Robert Parry
"What Obama apparently has realized is that a commitment to openness requires courage and a readiness to take some political hits. Republicans – and parts of the U.S. news media – attacked Obama in April for releasing the Bush administration’s four legal memos justifying torture of detainees."

Kansas v. Ventris: The Supreme Court Misconstrues the Right to Counsel
by SHERRY F. COLB
"Though the government acknowledged that it had violated the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, it argued – and the trial court found – that the confession was admissible for the limited purpose of discrediting contrary testimony by the defendant (here, testimony claiming that he did not commit the crimes charged). The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed this holding."

Obama’s Detention Dilemma
by DAPHNE EVIATAR
"The transfer of former “high-level” Guantanamo Bay detainee Ahmed Ghailani to a federal prison in New York on Tuesday highlights the dilemma President Obama faces over what to do with the 240 detainees remaining at the Guantanamo Bay prison, as well as any others he claims will need to be detained indefinitely without trial in the future."

A Republican to Save Us
by Robert Scheer
"Bair is the Republican whom President Obama reappointed to head the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., but she is protecting the interest of taxpayers as no Democrat has in this administration, and she needs your support."

Rush and Newt Are Winning
by E.J. Dionne Jr.
"A media environment that tilts to the right is obscuring what President Obama stands for and closing off political options that should be part of the public discussion."

119 Million Americans Must Be Wrong
by Robert Parry
"As the health insurance industry and its defenders in Congress lay out their case against permitting a public option in a reform bill, perhaps their most curious argument is that some 119 million Americans are ready to dump their private plans and jump to something more like Medicare – and that's why the choice can't be permitted."

Watching Obama Morph Into Dick Cheney
by Paul Craig Roberts
"The people’s good will toward Obama and the expectations they had for him were sufficient for Obama to end the gratuitous wars and enact major reforms. But Obama has deserted the people for the interests. He is relying on his non-threatening demeanor and rhetoric to convince the people that change is underway."

Wall Street Pay Caps Are A Terrible Idea
by Henry Blodget
"We clearly need tighter financial regulation, but capping pay shouldn't be part of it. Executive compensation should be decided by the shareholders and management of each individual company."

Five Years of My Life
by Peter Meroth and Uli Rauss
"About two months after the September 11 attacks, Kurnaz was abducted by Pakistani authorities while traveling through Pakistan with a group of tablighis, a sect of missionaries. Sold as a terror suspect to the U.S. military for a $3000 bounty, Kurnaz spent two hellish months in a secret U.S. prison in Afghanistan before he was bundled onto a plane and sent to the U.S. detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba."

Truth panel? Not sold on this argument
by LEONARD PITTS JR.
"But some of us know the accountability that matters most will not come from a truth commission, will not come until we the people confess our own role in this. We supported him. And when he overrode the laws and values that make us who we are, we remembered our fear and looked the other way."

America's Political/Media Kabuki
by Robert Parry
"Although Barack Obama won the presidency on a platform of “change” – and millions of Americans are tired of Washington’s destructive habits – U.S. politicians, the news media and significant parts of the electorate refuse to transform how they have operated over the past several decades."

Intervention
by Stephen Pizzo
"But, just as Americans had to accept the hard truth that 'enhance interrogation techniques' really meant toture, I can no longer pretend that what Isreal calls 'settlements' are anything but thievery."

Obama's "interference" in Israeli politics
by Glenn Greenwald
"Both Likud Party members in Israel as well as their Americans supporters – including members of both parties in the U.S. Congress – are beginning to complain that the Obama administration is unduly "interfering" in Israeli politics by insisting on a full cessation of settlement growth."

Ronald Reagan: Worst President Ever?
by Robert Parry
"But there’s a growing realization that the starting point for many of the catastrophes confronting the United States today can be traced to Reagan’s presidency."

How To Talk To Israel: A Sticking Point
by Chris Good
"A public airing of disputes could cost Obama some support in the U.S., but it could also cost Netanyahu. It's a double-edged sword, and it would expose both parties' stances to the geopolitical winds."

Is Obama covering up photos of detainee rapes?
by Alex Koppelman
"On Thursday, the Daily Telegraph published a shocking story: Some of the photos that President Obama abruptly decided to block from public release depict rape and sexual abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan."

If Iraq was a Mistake, Why are We Still There?
by Camillo Bica
"According to Just War Theory and International Law, the illegal and immoral use of violence and deadly force against a sovereign nation and its citizenry, constitutes aggression. Aggression is morally wrong and a war crime under International Law. "

Obama Should Visit Gaza
by Medea Benjamin
"But the administration has said almost nothing about the devastating Israeli invasion of Gaza that left over 1,300 dead, including some 400 children. To many in the Middle East, this is an unfortunate continuation of past policies that condemn the loss of innocent Israeli lives, but refuse to speak out against the disproportionately greater loss of Palestinian lives at the hands of the Israeli military."

The Olson/Boies Challenge to California's Proposition 8: A High-Risk Effort
by JOHN W. DEAN
"No doubt correctly, Olson and Boies believe if there is any federal circuit in which they can win, and place a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, they are in that court in California – in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Olson and Boies are seeking a preliminary injunction. Win or lose at the trial-court level, this is an immediately appealable matter, so it will be in the hands of the Ninth Circuit relatively soon. And if, as expected, the plaintiffs win before the Ninth Circuit, that ruling will certainly be appealed to the Supreme Court by those who want to keep the California ban, and possibly expand it to other states."

The Bogus Torture Coverup
by Scott Horton
"The Daily Beast has confirmed that the photographs of abuses at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, which President Obama, in a reversal, decided not to release, depict sexually explicit acts, including a uniformed soldier receiving oral sex from a female prisoner, a government contractor engaged in an act of sodomy with a male prisoner and scenes of forced masturbation, forced exhibition, and penetration involving phosphorous sticks and brooms."

'Scaredy-Cat Nation' Risks US Security
by Robert Parry
"Some Americans may think they’re looking tough by refusing to allow any Guantanamo Bay detainees to enter the United States, whether as prisoners to face trial or as people who were incorrectly swept up – like the Chinese Uighurs – and have been deemed no threat to U.S. security."

A Smile to Set the GOP on Edge
by Eugene Robinson
"President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, is a proud and accomplished Latina. This fact apparently drives some prominent Republicans to a state resembling incoherent, sputtering rage."

Obama's support for the new Graham-Lieberman secrecy law
by Glenn Greenwald - must read!!
"But now -- obviously anticipating that the Government is likely to lose in court again -- Obama wants Congress to change FOIA by retroactively narrowing its disclosure requirements, prevent a legal ruling by the courts, and vest himself with brand new secrecy powers under the law which, just as a factual matter, not even George Bush sought for himself. "

Cheney: Support for Israel Feeds Terrorism
by Ray McGovern
"There are a number of reasons why al-Qaeda and other terrorist movements wish to attack us, but this question never gets a complete – or honest – answer, certainly not from the FCM or from the mouths of politicians like Cheney and Obama."

Colin Powell Skates Free on Torture
by Robert Parry
"There is no one, it seems, that the U.S. mainstream news media loves more than Colin Powell, a "moderate" Republican who gives a careerist journalist the chance to do some smart positioning in the "center." But the truth about this retired four-star general is that he is the ultimate careerist."

Military tribunals not the same as U.S. courts
by Bob Egelko
"President Obama says his proposed reforms to the military commissions his predecessor established to try suspected terrorists will bring the tribunals "in line with the rule of law." But it isn't the same law that applies in U.S. courts."

Neocon Group Calls for Military Strikes on Media
by Jeremy Scahill
"A new report for a leading neoconservative group that pushes a belligerent "Israel first" agenda of conquest in the Middle East suggests that in future wars the U.S. should make censorship of media official policy and advocates "military attacks on the partisan media" (via MuzzleWatch)."

"Clean" Energy and Poisoned Water
by Chris Hedges
"Corporations in Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and upstate New York have launched a massive program to extract natural gas through a process that could, if it goes wrong, degrade the Delaware River watershed and the fresh water supplies that feed upstate communities, the metropolitan cities of New York, Philadelphia, Camden and Trenton, and many others on its way to the Chesapeake Bay."

Prosecute sins of Bush-Cheney era
by CNN's Jack Cafferty
"And until the questions surrounding arguably the most arrogant and perhaps most corrupt administration in our history are addressed, the pain won't go away."

George W. Bush "Kept Us Safe"?
by Jeffrey Feldman
"Lately, the only thing worse than Dick Cheney's boldfaced lie that the Bush administration policies "kept us safe" is the gaggle of mainstream journalists mindlessly repeating it."

Obama's civil liberties speech
by Glenn Greenwald
"Obama's speech this morning, like most Obama speeches, made pretty points in rhetorically effective ways about the Constitution, our values, transparency, oversight, the state secrets privilege, and the rule of law. But his actions, in many critical cases, have repeatedly run afoul of those words."

Administration Opposes Plame Appeal
by Ben Conery
"The Obama administration Wednesday took the side of top Bush administration officials - including most-vocal recent critic, former Vice President Dick Cheney - in the ongoing fight over the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame."

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Heads-Heads
by Sibel Edmonds
"Despite all the promises Mr. Obama made during his campaign, especially on those issues that were absolutely central to those whose support he garnered, so far the President of Change has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor."

AND HE SHALL BE JUDGED
by Robert Draper
"Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld has always answered his detractors by claiming that history will one day judge him kindly. But as he waits for that day, a new group of critics—his administration peers—are suddenly speaking out for the first time. What they’re saying? It isn’t pretty"

The 13 people who made torture possible
by Marcy Wheeler
"The Bush administration's Torture 13. They authorized it, they decided how to implement it, and they crafted the legal fig leaf to justify it."

Pelosi's story has lots of holes in it
by LEONARD PITTS JR.
"So far, the House Speaker's explanation of what and when she knew about the Bush administration's policy of torturing suspected terrorists is crookeder than Dick Cheney's smile."

Prosecuting Torture: Is Time Really Running Out?
by Elizabeth de la Vega
"However, notwithstanding anything you may have heard - about charges disappearing in 2010 and all hope being lost after 2011 - time is not running out to prosecute Bush administration officials either for torture itself or for the many crimes they committed to keep their program alive throughout their tenure."

The day the bloggers won
by Eric Boehlert
"With no traditional-media allies or lobbying money, the netroots was able to alter the debate about wiretapping in the 2008 campaign. Leading the charge: Salon's Glenn Greenwald."

The Disease of Permanent War
by Chris Hedges
"The embrace by any society of permanent war is a parasite that devours the heart and soul of a nation."

Knowing 'What's Good for the Country'
by Robert Parry
"When President Barack Obama reversed himself on releasing photos of U.S. soldiers abusing detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq, he offered the usual "patriotic" excuse, that the images might fuel anti-Americanism and cost the lives of U.S. soldiers."

Military Commissions, Round Three
by JOANNE MARINER
"Politicians normally like to be praised, but I have to wonder how President Obama feels this weekend, having gotten accolades from such unaccustomed sources as Ari Fleischer, John McCain and the Wall Street Journal."

Obama Trips Over Bush Torture Legacy
by Hans Hoyng, Britta Sandberg and Gabor Steingart
"US President Barack Obama had thought he could clean up the Bush administration's questionable human rights legacy on his own terms. Recent decisions regarding Abu Ghraib pictures and military tribunals show that he was mistaken. His message of "change" is at risk."

WPost Columnist Winks at Torture
by Robert Parry
"These days, the Washington Post has the look of one of those Southern newspapers in the 1960s standing firm for segregation as the wave of civil rights swept across the region. Except for the Post, the blind commitment is to neoconservatism.'

Cheney's Role Deepens
by Robert Windrem
"Former NBC News investigative producer Robert Windrem reports that the vice president’s office suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner who was suspected of knowing about a relationship between al Qaeda and Saddam."

We wouldn't want to inflame anti-American sentiment
by Glenn Greenwald
"But what is ultimately even more amazing is the claim that suppressing these photographs is necessary to prevent an inflammation of anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world generally and Afghanistan specifically."

The Real Motive Behind the Cheney Family Torture Tour
by Bob Cesca
"But using torture as a means to falsify evidence for war is a far more damning and despicable can of worms. So it stands to reason that Cheney would roll out whatever ammunition he has in order to obfuscate and sidetrack the issue."

Stanley McChrystal: A History Of Condoning Torture?
by Andrew Sullivan
"As Fred Kaplan noticed, the man Obama has just selected to be his new commander in Afghanistan has a history. It appears to involve some pretty horrifying toleration of rampant abuse and torture of prisoners."

Obama Moves To Dark Side With Choice Of Gen McChrystal
by Allen L Roland
"Seymour Hersh recently described the JSOC as an "executive assassination wing" controlled for many years by the office of former Vice President Dick Cheney. From Sept 2003 to August 2008 ~ Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal headed that command and now President Obama moves to the dark side by giving him command of US forces in Afghanistan."

The Politics of Excusing Torture In The Name of National Security
by JOHN W. DEAN
"Those who believe that the Obama Administration should expose and prosecute persons who committed war crimes should understand that it is not going to happen the way they would like, or as quickly, because Obama is having internal battles as well."

A Turning Point in the Torture Debate
by Scott Horton
"The effort to destroy the Zelikow memo is not just evidence of standard record-keeping practice; it may well spring from recognition that the memo might be used as evidence that the Bush administration was engaged in criminality."

The Right Bullied Obama on Photos
by Jason Leopold
"In reversing an earlier commitment to release photos of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners, President Barack Obama succumbed to a propaganda barrage unleashed by former Bush administration officials, their congressional allies, the right-wing news media and holdovers who retain key jobs under Obama."

Cheney Intervened in CIA Inspector General's Torture Probe
buy Jason Leopold
"Former Vice President Dick Cheney intervened in CIA Inspector General John Helgerson investigation into the agency's use of torture against alleged "high-value" detainees, but the watchdog was still able to prepare a report that concluded the interrogation program violated some provisions of the International Convention Against Torture."

Roxana Saberi's plight and American media propaganda
by Glenn Greenwald
"Right now -- as the American press corps celebrates itself for demanding Saberi's release in Iran -- the U.S. continues to imprison Ibrahim Jassam, a freelance photographer for Reuters, even though an Iraqi court last December -- more than five months ago -- found that there was no evidence to justify his detention and ordered him released."

A Democrat Calls for Executive Accountability
by John Nichols
"Baldwin has introduced the Executive Branch Accountability Act of 2009 (H.Res. 417), which calls on President Obama to reject and reverse the illegal actions of the Bush-Cheney Administration and to work with Congress to restore a proper balance between the legislative and executive branches of the federal government."

For the Last Time - ALL OF IT - was Torture!
by F. Vyan Walton
"It's not a question of whether Waterboarding is or isn't Torture, and therefore illegal, the simple fact is that Every Coercive Method Authorized by Yoo, Bybee, Bradbury and Bush all meet the U.S. and International definitions of torture. All of Them."

Understanding the Long War
by Tom Hayden
"The implications of this doctrine are staggering. The very notion of a fifty-year war assumes the consent of the American people, who have yet to hear of the plan, for the next six national elections."

The massive expansion of America's "Hard Left"
by Glenn Greenwald
"Our media stars accuse everyone with any actual beliefs -- and especially any beliefs that deviate from Beltway establishment orthodoxy -- of being motivated by ugly "partisan" impulses because that's the only way they are capable of seeing the world."

Obama's Counterterrorism Reforms: What Remains to be Done
by JOANNE MARINER
"Not only will President Obama need to find a solution for the approximately 140 men still in long-term detention without trial at Guantanamo, he will need to resolve the question of how to prosecute those detainees implicated in terrorist crimes."